Strapping Young Lad
by nothing-boyINC
Summary: How an eccentric street punk [OC] changes the lives of the Titans forever. Especially Raven. Rated M for violence and language. Chap 4 is up.
1. And So, the Bus Arrives

A bus pulled in.

'_Ahhh, Jump City, a golden land of opportunity' _a strapping young lad smirked to himself, stepping off of the Metropolis-Jump Greyhound. The underage smoker quickly lights a Newport, inhales, and exhales a small, grey puff of smoke.

"Hey kid!" A local stranger shouts, "aren't you a little bit too young for that shit?" clearly referring to the bewildered newcomer.

"What's it to ya?" the scruffy looking kid smirks.

"Just looking out for the general population!" the man retorts.

"Pssh… I know exactly what you're gonna say," the kid, blowing another cloud, answers, "cigarette: A pinch of tobacco, rolled in paper, with a fire at one end and a fool at the other. My eventual death does not in any way affect your life. You have no idea about the troubles I've seen…"

"What the hell is that supposed to justify, you fucken smartass?"

"My actions deserve no justification... Well now, I'll be on my way! Have a good night, sir…" the kid smiled and strutted off.

"Why you damn dirty street punk! You got no fucken respect!" the man yells.

The kid stops, "Look, I thank you for your concern, but I don't need your guidance…" he pushes some hair away from his eyes, "But I have to go… y'know, things to see… people to do, so, goodbye…" and walks off, calmly ignoring any further input from the disgruntled adult.

This enraged the man, but he kept his cool, "Fucken shiters… got no respect…" He walked off, stomping away the opposite direction.

* * *

'_Anyways, where was I?' _The kid thought to himself, walking down the dreary streets of the city '_Jump City, an urban utopia, a city of lights… a city of dreams. A city where… I may or may not find my future… But nonetheless, a golden land of opportunity...'_

"Titans! GO!"

'_An opportunity such as this…' _the kid looked up, flicked away his cig and took the single most important, biggest and life changing action that he has ever taken in his whole entire life. He stuck his foot out.

"You stupid Titans won't not ever catch m-" the insert-public-service-here robber attempted to cry out, but was cut short and sent tumbling over some kids aviator boots, straight into a rather large garbage bin. "WHY YOU LITTLE PIECE O-". F SHIT, were probably the last syllables of this thug's sentence, but those cries were suddenly muffled by the lid of the dump that was magically shut tight by more than magically dark powers.

Authorities were immediately dispatched to throw the guy into the patty wagon.

"Yeah! You're right! You WERE'NT not about to escape from us!" the famously enigmatic leader of the Teen Titans, Robin, boasted!

"…………………….DUDE! That was so corny!" the green skinned Changeling laughed. His point, taken to the bone.

Robin, in total Anime fashion, falls over. "Who asked you anyways!"

"I need not be asked, for my quick wits and heightened mental awareness takes note of such things!" Beast Boy exaggerates, helping Robin up.

Not really giving a hoot about all of the commotion, Raven, our cloaked, half-demon friend walks on over to the strange, tripper-boy. Starfire floats on as well, in her usual, curiously friendly way.

"So, those were some… pretty quick moves you made out there…" Raven says to him, not really caring if he responds, but still willing to spark conversation... Which is pretty strange for her, considering her usually melancholy mood.

"Greetings friend!" Quickly greets Starfire, the cheerful Tamaranian. "My name is Starfire! What is yours?"

Raven and Starfire wait in interest (Well, Raven seemed a little bit less interested…but still kind of interested…) for the strange boy's answer.

"They call me… Zero…" replied the strange-strapping-young- underage-smoking-scruffy-disrespectful-damn-dirty-fucken-shiter-street-punk-tripper-kid-boy-thing. And he ran. He ran off has fast as his legs could take him.

"Friend Zero! Don't run!" Starfire called out, "Please! Come back!"

"No, Star, let him be…" Raven solemnly whispered, taking hold of her shoulder, "Leave him be…"

* * *

Yes, yes, the first chapter to my first fanfic. Well, actually, this is the revised version, and the old version has been replaced (or it SHOULD have been replaced... and by now, hopefully, it is!) and I do so certainly hope you enjoyed! Please, now that you have read, review it!

All of your Questions/Comments/Flames/Critisicm/Trolling/Flames are greatly appreciated!


	2. The Rainy Streets of Jump City

It was raining. The streets were slick and it was dark.

The kid ran as fast as his legs could take him in this gloom, dodging past traffic and angry pedestrians. _'Fuck this shit! That was just too much pressure!'_

"Hey! Watch it kid!"

_'FUCK! I blew it, didn't I?'_

"Young man! Watch where you're going!"

'_But they were the Teen Titans! Who the hell WOULDN'T succumb to that kind of pressure?'_ Zero was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't really comprehend the car, zooming at full speed, which slammed straight into his ribs and sent him flying over the roof of the speeding auto. He rolled and tumbled, falling down onto the streets in a bloody mess.

The streets were tough.

"STUPID FUCKING KIDS!" The anonymous driver hollered, stomping out of his car, "FUCK! The kid is probably dead! Oh shit, how the fucking lawsuits will roll in! I can't pay for this shit!"

But luckily, this fucking kid was tough too.

"Ahhh shit," said the man, "this kid is dead meat!" He slapped the body across the face and began to poke and prod "How the fuck am I gonna get the hell out of this one?"

He never finished his little soliloquy, regards to the fist that suddenly jumped out and slammed against his flapping jaw, knocking a tooth or two out. Not that it really mattered how many teeth flew out anyways, because after this kid got up, kneed his face in and threw him down to the ground in rage, he couldn't really feel much of anything at all.

Needless to say, traffic reached an all time high that night.

* * *

Gripping his sides, he trudged down the alley ways. His ribs didn't really hurt as much as his guilt. "Damn…" he cried to himself, "What have I done? Where can I go? What the hell am I supposed to-", sudden noise in the shadows surprised him, cutting him short. 

Giggles and snickers are quietly expelled. Female snickers.

"Who goes there?" A confused, frightened Zero asked his apparently invincible adversary. Well, at least he thought it was an enemy. "God damn it! Who the hell are you?"

A loud crash. A small, black cat moseys on by.

"Wouldn't you believe it, it's just my luck" he laughed to himself, "It's just a cat". He slid down the brick alley wall, onto the cold, wet ground and gently lifted the cat, setting it on his lap. "Such a cute cat… A cute black cat…" being the superstitious kid he is, he let out an exasperated gasp, "Which probably means I'm in some pretty deep sh-" The cat stopped purring and jumped out of his lap, running back into the shadows. "Damn, what the hell?"

More giggling breaks out, echoing throughout the alleyways.

"What the hell is going on?" he looks around, cautiously, still gripping his ribs which have healed remarkably. Suddenly a pot falls from above, landing directly in front of him. "What the fuck?" More crazy things begin to happen, ladders threatening to smash him and animals going wild at the sight of him. He was beginning to get scared, as his life was in real danger right now, as objects start to break around him, almost killing him. It was dark and the ground was very slippery due to the pouring rain. He tripped over himself, but rolled just in time to avoid more danger. It was a very supernatural experience for him.

Though, he has been through stranger things.

He eventually figured it out, he began to laugh. _'Exactly why I came…' _"Alright! Jokes over, ya got me!" After a moment of silence, a wild, pink-haired girl ran over, punched him the stomach and tackled him to the ground. Showering him with kisses.

"Holy crap! It's you! I can't believe you came all this way just to see me again!" the girl cried out fanatically, "I can't fucking believe it!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm here… been a fucking trip too! So much shit has been going on…" Zero replied, "But it's good to finally meet you again, sister! It's been so long!"

"Hell yeah it has…"

"So, Jinx, What have you been up to lately? Still doing that mercenary shit?"

"Yup, yup!" Jinx smiled, looking up at him, "So, I understand that you were involved in some huge car accident?"

"Oh, so that was you?"

She merely winked.

"Oh you sly, sly little bitch…" Zero shook his head, jokingly.

* * *

Wow, second chapter! Took me a while, took more time than expected to write up and upload. I kinda had a brief period of writer's block. Well, I knew where I wanted the story to go, but I couldnt find the words for it. Go figure. Well, anyways, now that you've read, you can now review! So, click on that little drop down menu down at the lower left corner and select "Submit Review" and... well... you get the drill... O.o? 


	3. When There's Trouble

The Titans returned to the Tower.

"Friends!" proclaimed Starfire, "Raven and I have discovered a new friend! They call him Zero!"

Raven glanced her a pessimistic glance, "I wouldn't say he is a new friend… we just now met him…"

"But he helped us, did he not?"

"Yeah, but what does that say?" the empath asked, "He seemed so… distressed… so regretful to have ever seen us… hardly friend behavior."

Starfire looked down at the ground, feeling she had been too pretentious and that maybe the boy truly wasn't there to make friends. "But…"

"So, Tin Man," Beast Boy interrupted, taunting Cyborg, who was left behind from this distress call, due to a glitch in his battery pack, requiring a full diagnostic and recharge, "did the little baby fix his boo boo? You need a wittle kiss on your finger?" The changeling laughed.

"Oh I'll show you a boo boo!"

"Ahem!" Robin sounded, "Sorry to interrupt you two little love birds…"

"LOVE BIRDS!" Cyborg and BB cried out in disgust.

"… But I believe Starfire was talking…"

Starfire looked up and smiled "Yes, you remember the boy who helped us?"

"Well… yeah, of course" Robin raised a brow "Why?"

"What, so we made a new friend or what?" Cyborg asked, curiously, "Didja catch his name?"

"Zero…" Raven said, nonchalantly, "He claimed to be known as Zero. He wore a black hoody over a dark grey shirt. Semi-baggy jeans and a pair of dark brown Doc Martin boots… Just your average, everyday citizen if you ask me…"

"And he had hair just like Ravens!" Starfire cheerfully remarked "And deep blue eyes…."

Robin gave her a quizzical look.

"Wait, wait, wait, did you say… Zero?" Now Cyborg was REALLY curious.

"Why yes… his name was Zero…" Starfire gave Cy a worried look, "Does this name bother you, friend Cyborg? For I do not wish to-"

"No, no… don't worry about it Star…" Cyborg reassured her, "Its just that I once knew a kid back in high school, before my accident, that the other kids so casually referred to as Zero… he eventually just… disappeared… never to be heard from again…"

Raven slightly looked up from the book she was reading (She picked up while everyone was talking about Zero) once the word "runaway" was mentioned. She sighed and went back to her book _'just like any other kid in this city…" _

Suddenly, criminal activity was reported.

"Beast Boy, you stay and watch over Cyborg!" Robin called out as they ran off.

The Cyborg and the Changeling sat a little bit further away from one another for tonight.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the streets, Jinx and Zero were walking out of one of the many, many Mini-Marts of Jump City. 

"Wow, who ever knew that small time crime could be so much fun!" Zero laughed, pulling out an assortment of stolen goods he "acquired" from the store. "A nice break from the high time if I do say so myself!"

"Hell yeah!" Jinx boasted proudly, pulling out a big wad of cash that she "acquired" from the store, "Look at all the loot we made! 20, 40, 160…". She gave her brother a big hug, "Doesn't it feel good great to be reunited with your big sis?"

"Only 5 hours bigger!" he pointed out, offering his sister a cigarette, of which she gladly took. He pulled one out for himself as well, placed into his lips, relishing the flavour, and lit it, lighting Jinx's soon afterwards.

"Enough of this mushy bullshit!" She took her little brother's hand "Lets paint this fucking town red!" And so they ran off.

* * *

The Titans were a little bit late, for a path of destruction awaited them. 

"Oh my…" was all that Starfire could say, the destruction was great. Many cars lay on the pavement, utterly destroyed. The rage was evident as the blind destruction plagued this poor district. Surprisingly, nobody was hurt bad. Only one person was fatally wounded. Blood was running down his face, bones in his legs and arms were evidently broken. His ribs hurt.

"Damn…" Robin stared down at the battered and bruised body. The paramedics had just arrived, picking up the body. "What happened to you?"

"Kid… fucken kid… didn't…streets…car…cant…pay….shit…" the man went unconscious.

"This man has sustained serious injury!" a medic walked over to Robin "Reportedly, he was beaten down by an enraged pedestrian…"

"Obviously…" Raven looked on towards the destruction. She went on, helping the paramedics work on other, minorly injured people.

"Who could've done such a thing?" asked a worried Starfire.

"Well… it was actually mostly this mans fault" the medic said, pointing down at beaten man, "According to eye witnesses, he some guy with his car, stormed out cursing, and hit the guys body. He slapped him across the face and was about to just go back into his car and drive off…"

"A hit and run…" Robin acknowledged.

"Well… yeah, but it was more like the kid who was hit was the one who hit and ran…" the nurse sounded worried, "I don't understand how someone could just get up after such a hit and be able to cause this destruction and run off… Without being caught and before you guys arrived…"

"Well… not a normal person at that… so, he was just a kid?"

"Supposedly"

Robin looked at Raven and Starfire and nodded.

"What did he look like?" Raven asked

"According to witnesses, he was about 5 foot 7 and pretty lean. He had almost shoulder length, dark hair." The nurse answered "But that's all we know…"

Starfire looked on at Robin "Shall we seek him out and take him to authorities?"

"Good idea Starfire, but we can't… not at this time of night. We'll search tomorrow morning, in the light." Robin nodded "Besides… we don't have much of a description, and by tomorrow, surely, more information on this kid will be released…"

"Robin?" Raven looked at Robin, in the eyes "I'm going to find some information and search for any suspicious people. I'm sure I can find him…"

"…Are you sure Raven?"

"Positive…"

* * *

Well, well. Jeez, I wonder who went out and caused such destruction? Only time will tell, and until then, we shall never know. I don't even know who did it, and I wrote the story! 

Anyways, please, review… and thanks for reading! I love you so much!


End file.
